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Remembering Ernie |
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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 5/12/2010 3:42 PM | Greetings on this beautiful morning,
Yesterday, I lost one of my heroes. Oh, and I’m not alone. I would guess that millions of people heard of his death and stopped for at least a moment, and remembered Ernie Harwell, who died at the age of 92 after a year long battle with cancer.
Ernie Harwell was “The Voice of the Detroit Tigers” for 42 years, after short stints in New York and Baltimore. In the 1980’s he became the first still-active broadcaster to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is also a resident of the Radio Hall of Fame, the Michigan Hall of Fame and the Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He was the only announcer to be traded for a player! In the late 1940’s, Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers wanted to hire Ernie to be the Dodgers broadcaster, but Ernie was under contract as the announcer of the Atlanta Crackers. So, a deal was struck: Ernie went to Brooklyn in exchange for Dodgers backup catcher Cliff Dapper. And the rest, as they say is history.
I know you can go on-line or many other places to find out the facts about Ernie Harwell. You can probably even hear recordings of some of the games he broadcast to hear the wonderful southern baritone that described the games so beautifully. You can find lists of awards. You can find a recounting of his achievements. But the important thing about Ernie Harwell was he did all those things, and at the heart of it all, he was still a good, good man. Last night on the Major League Baseball network, Hall of Famer Al Kaline called in just to share his memories of Ernie and ended by saying “I don’t do things like this normally, but for Ernie Harwell, I would do just about anything.” This morning in the newspapers, Senators, Governors, Mayors and other important people are all quoted on how important Ernie was to them. On-line, hundreds of normal folks are posting their recollections and sharing their grief. Things like that don’t happen just because you are famous. Things like that happen because of who you really are.
Ernie Harwell was a man of great faith, a devout Christian who was active in the fellowship of Christian athletes and something called “Baseball Chapel” that provided Bible study and worship services for professional baseball players. In the off season, he spoke at churches all over Michigan, large and small, sharing his faith journey. In one of his last public appearances in Detroit, at a tribute for him at a downtown theatre, he said that he was not afraid and trusted God for what would come, and thanked God for all he had been given. He was at peace, he said, “because I know into whose arms I will fall.” My cousin Bryce, a Methodist minister in Michigan, sent me an e-mail this morning and asked if I had heard that Ernie had died. “He was one of my heroes,” he wrote. Then he pointed out the quote at the bottom of his e-mail that he said has been there for several years. It reads: “If you have a choice between being right and kind: choose kind.” – Ernie Harwell.
Several years ago, Carol and I were in the Detroit airport waiting for our flight. Looking up, I saw the governor of Michigan, Jim Blanchard, coming down the hall. Having had some minor contact with him, I walked over to say hello, and he said “nice to see you again” as he distractedly shook my hand and walked on, surely wondering who I was. A few minutes later, a little man in a black beret walked toward us and I rocketed out of my seat and approached him with an outstretched hand saying, “Mr. Harwell, it’s an honor to meet you.” He asked my name, I told him how much I had enjoyed listening to him and what an honor it was to meet him and basically rambled like a schoolboy. He thanked me for listening and told me it was a pleasure and said, “Brad, I hope you have a good flight.” Carol later said, “Pretty big day, seeing the Governor and all…” Before she could finish I said excitedly, “The governor? Who cares about the governor? I met Ernie Harwell today and he called me by name!”
For countless nights, I fell asleep with the sounds of Ernie Harwell broadcasting the Tigers emanating from my radio. I heard him describe a batter who took a called third strike and “stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched it go by.” I heard him invite his listeners to come and see a game at “The Corner”…the corner of Michigan and Trumbull where Tiger Stadium sat…could there be another? I heard him declare another home run as being “Loooong gone!” I heard him announce the Tigers as winners and lamented with him when they lost. But the first thing that always pops into my head is that every year, at his opening broadcast on opening day, Ernie read the same thing: scripture. Song of Solomon 2: 11-12: “For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.”
Ernie Harwell died last night about 20 minutes before the first pitch of the game between the Tigers and the Twins. Which is fitting, since I heard him once say that the most important thing in broadcasting is never to interfere with the game. Ernie never did – he only added to it. God bless you, Ernie, you will be missed.
For an updated prayer list and upcoming announcements, go to www.brookhavenchristian.org
For your prayer list:
Please keep Turley Higgins, our organist extraordinaire, in your prayers as he continues his recovery from his recent heart surgery. Turley is taking a leave of absence to allow his recovery to be complete. We look forward to his return near the end of the summer. In the meantime, our friend Joe Mackrovitch will be filling in for Turley.
Announcement
Just a week away from our Homecoming weekend: Saturday night May 15th dinner and program, Sunday morning May 16th worship including the participation of 7 former ministers of BCC and the rededication of our sanctuary, Homecoming reception following worship. Help us to celebrate!
I hope you can be with us this Sunday as we celebrate the Lord’s Day together, as well as Mother’s Day. The sermon is titled “Are We Different?” and the scripture is Acts 11: 1-18. Have a great rest of the week.
Be peaceful,
Brad | | | Permalink | Trackback |
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